The Gold Ring

The young man was
climbing the hill, slowly a step at a time. His bowed head seemed to indicate
that something was bothering him. Perhaps he was lonely, or discouraged. He was
coming to seek guidance from the wise man that lived on the hill on the
outskirts of town.

Entering the counselor's house, the young man
found him reading, deep in thought.

"Excuse me,
sir," he said hesitantly. The old
man lifted his eyes. Timidly, with a courteous bow and a voice of desperation,
the young man said, "I have come seeing your help … sir." After a
short pause, he continued, "I have dreams that I believe I can achieve,
but no one thinks I have the ability to reach them. People see little value in
me."

The old man
continued his reading. After a while, he said, "Before I can give you any
counsel, I need your help. Are you willing?"Somewhat disappointed for
having his own needs ignored, the young man nevertheless responded, "I
will try, sir."

The wise man stood
up. Stretching himself a bit, he said, "I may need to pay a large debt in
the future, for which I will need money. Here is my gold ring. Take it to the
market and find out how much I can get for it, but don't settle for anything
less than five gold coins. There is my horse. Go!"

The young man held
onto the ring tightly and upon reaching the market place, went from stall to
stall, offering it in exchange for cash. The fruit seller ignored him. The
clothes merchant told him that he was not interested. The farmer selling
chickens continued to bargain with a customer and waved him away.

Finally, the young
man reached the pig seller's stall. After examining the ring for a while in his
dirty hand, he said with a covetous smirk, "Tell the owner that I man be
willing to give him five bronze coins for this."

"I fulfilled
your assignment, sir," said the young man upon his return. "No one in
the market is willing to give five gold coins for your beautiful ring."

"That's
fine," responded the wise man. Now we know how little the market people
value this ring. Go to the jeweler in town and show it to him."

When the jeweler
saw the gold ring, he quickly stood up and used a silk handkerchief to hold it
carefully. Bring it under a lamp, he examined it in detail with a magnifying
glass. "A masterpiece," he said softly. "If the owner if the
ring is in hurry, I will buy it for 10 gold coins myself. But if he gives me
time to bring out all its beauty, I shall find a wealthy customer willing to
pay at least 20 gold coins for it."

The wise man
listened attentively to the report the happy young man brought back and then
told him, "Don't let the ignorant tell you the value of something they
know nothing about. Listen only to the appraisal of the skilled specialist, the
one who can recognize the true value of a master artist's work."And with a
smile, the wise man placed the golden ring back on his finger and waved the
young man good-bye.